Anti-Gay Extremists Teaming Up For Washington Marriage Fight

After some initial infighting earlier this year, it appears that anti-gay groups and activists in Washington State are now coalescing to defeat the state’s recently-enacted marriage equality law.

As Jeremy Hooper pointed out on Monday, the Preserve Marriage Coalition – which includes the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) – and Protect Marriage Washington are now coordinating their efforts “behind the scenes.”

In a recent email to supporters, Protect Marriage Washington spokesman Pastor Ken Hutcherson announced that his church would be hosting a meeting later this month to discuss Referendum 74 and Initiative 1192, two attempts to repeal Washington’s marriage equality law:

I will be holding an area-wide pastors' meeting on Thursday, April 26 from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at the Antioch Bible Church offices. We will be strategizing ways to ensure both Referendum 74 and Initiative 1192 are successful. Chris Plante from the National Organization for Marriage will in attendance. [emphasis added]

Stephen Pidgeon, the Republican attorney general candidate responsible for launching Initiative 1192, has also flagged the meeting on his schedule.

The effort to consolidate Washington’s disparate anti-gay groups, activists, and campaigns may make sense from a strategic perspective, but it also has the effect of bringing together some of the most extreme, anti-LGBT voices in the state. The April 26 meeting alone will include:

Ken Hutcherson: a man who compared gay marriage to marrying horses, claimed that “unrepentant” homosexuality “will kill you,” and who lobbied aggressively against even the most basic forms of legal protection for LGBT people

Stephen Pidgeon: a right-wing conspiracy theorist who, aside from dabbling in “birtherism” and comparing Obama to the anti-Christ, has referred to marriage equality as a form of demon worship that creates an “order of death”

Christopher Plante: who’s claimed that gay couples adopt in order to “turn children into little teacup dogs” and compared being raised by a same-sex couple to having dead parents

The meeting is also likely to include representatives from the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) – a member of the Preserve Marriage Coalition and a promoter of the myths that gay parents molest their own children and turn kids gay.

Given this new coalition of anti-LGBT extremism, only time will tell if Washington’s anti-equality forces decide to stick with their NOM-approved talking points or reveal the animus that really motivates their ‘protect marriage’ efforts.